Overview
- The Joliet Slammers, which staged their Big House Ballgame on Thursday inside the Old Joliet Prison yard, faced the St. Louis Gateway Grizzlies.
- The sold-out showcase served as a Route 66 centennial kickoff in Joliet as one of five coordinated opening events nationwide.
- Co-owner Bill Murray appeared at the site Thursday morning, supporting Night Train Veeck’s effort to connect the team with the city’s prison history.
- Organizers said the exhibition starts a broader plan to open the yard to the community, with local recreational league games to follow.
- The setting revives a baseball tradition that began in 1913 at the prison, and organizers said players would wear jerseys modeled on inmate uniforms found during cleanup work.